Alexis Levinson

Social Security Administration employees are being instructed to tell people who ask that if the debt ceiling is not raised, their social security benefits could be in danger.

In an email sent Friday, obtained by The Daily Caller, employees are instructed:

“If a member of the public asks whether their Social Security payment will be affected if the federal debt ceiling is not raised, you may give the following response: ‘Unlike a federal shutdown which has no impact on the payment of Social Security benefits, failure to raise the debt ceiling puts Social Security benefits at risk.’

“Direct all program–related and technical questions to your supervisor.”

According to the Treasury, the U.S. will reach its borrowing limit on October 17, and if the debt ceiling is not raised before then, the country will default on its debt.

“In a government shutdown, Social Security checks still go out on time,” President Barack Obama said Thursday, the Huffington Post reported. “In an economic shutdown, if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, they don’t go out on time.”